Expectant
by azarathangel
Summary: Brennan meets an unlikely companion on a plane home and he gives her the courage to speak.


**Story: Expectant**

**Disclaimer: I happen to own… NOTHING! Everyone belongs to FOX…. Damn. **

**Spoilers: none**

**Pairing: BoothxBrennan. thank you captain states the obvious, always a pleasure to have you aboard… **

**Chapters: A wonderfully fluffy one-shot**

**Summary: Brennan meets an unlikely companion on a plane home and he gives her the courage to speak.**

**Chapter 1: Expectant**

**Note: I'm sorry about 'Let Me Count the Ways'!!!!!!! really!! But read the note at the end 'cause there's more important stuff there**

**WARNING: FUN FLUFF!! WOO!!**

**This is a spur of the moment story, so forgive any blah-ness. This was just begging to be written, though.**

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He was looking at her again with those eyes… those eyes that were so brown they were almost black. He smiled and his round little cheeks rose on his face, unveiling a little dimple on his right cheek. Brennan felt her own lips twitch into a smile as she regarded the little boy with a warm feeling she couldn't quite justify. He babbled with happy little baby gurgles and one little hand went up to his head to yank on the light sandy hair. It was so thin and looked so unbelievably soft… Brennan felt that smile rise again on her face as the ten-month baby smiled to reveal what little teeth he had. A stream of drool dribbled down his front onto the light blue shirt.

"What's his name?" She heard the airline-goer in the aisle seat ask. The baby bounced up and down and gurgled more, smacking his lips together to make a kissing noise.

"Declan," the brunette woman replied, "it's Irish."

"He has his father's eyes." The woman on the aisle seat said with a warm smile. Brennan looked across the aisle to the tall man with brown hair seated in the aisle on the other side. He was smiling, and she noticed how his dark eyes sparkled with adoration for his wife and son seated nearby. Brennan looked back at the baby, his eyes on hers once more.

The baby's mother bounced him up and down on her lap and Declan turned his attention from Brennan's face to his mother's warm smile, a dimple similar to his own on her face. It was as if the spell of those almost black eyes had broken and Brennan let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as she sat back in her seat by the window. Her plane had been standing by at the runway for the past fifteen minutes and she was anxious to return home.

Brennan's trip to Los Angeles to give a lecture on the value of archeology in anthropology to several classes at local colleges had exhausted her beyond belief. She remembered her college days: her classes hadn't been nearly as difficult or disrespectful, had they? Another lecture room of whistling boys and flirting couples with the complimentary smart aleck and she was sure to demonstrate to them exactly why forensic anthropologists were needed at crime scenes. Brennan sighed as she looked out the window, grateful that the plane finally began to move down the runway.

She missed her lab. She missed her work and her friends and her real job and it had only been ten days. Brennan allowed herself a small chuckle. She was getting soft. Damn that Booth… she missed him the most. A small hand interrupted her from her musings.

"Declan, no-no," the mother in the middle seat said. Declan was patting Brennan's shoulder with the force of a sleepy ten-month-old. Brennan smiled.

"It's okay," she said, smiling at the baby. Declan grinned and gurgled, happily laughing as Brennan held out a hand to him. He took her pinky in his and gave it a shake, throwing it down and clapping his hands.

"Oh, Declan, such a big boy! Already shaking hands with the ladies, you little flirt." The mother laughed as Declan bounced up and down on her lap, giggling as he waved his arms up and down. She turned towards Brennan with a smile.

"He doesn't do that to just anyone, you know," she said, "He really likes you." Brennan raised her eyebrows in surprise. She opened her mouth to reply, but the captain's voice crackled on over the intercom and the plane lifted off the ground to climb towards the endless blue sky above LA.

Brennan awoke to a thumping on her arm. Turning her head, she saw a small figure staring at her with huge eyes. She blinked to clear her vision and smiled as Declan saw her awake, a grin spreading across his face as he giggled and looked away before looking back, holding his hands towards her and waving them around.

"Did you wake the nice lady up?" The mother sighed and gave Brennan an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry. He's just a playful little baby, that's all."

"It's really okay," Brennan replied, the smile still on her face as she kept her eyes on Declan's. "He's beautiful." The words passed her lips before she could stop them. A beautiful baby, that's what Declan was. "And very intelligent." She added as an afterthought. The mother looked at her skeptically.

"How can you tell that?" She asked. Brennan chewed her lower lip for a second before taking a deep breath.

"Babies know who their mothers are, and sometimes, they can tell if someone else is a mother figure and they tend to take a liking to them quicker than someone else they meet in the passing." Brennan explained. The other woman's cheek crinkled and the dimple that matched Declan's appeared as she smiled.

"So you have children?" She asked. Brennan quickly shook her head and the other woman's smile faded a bit.

"No, but, well, I'm expecting a child." Her voice was quiet and her words slow. She had known this for three weeks, but the first person she told was a stranger on the plane. Brennan mentally frowned. It was stupid, she thought, but for some reason, telling this person felt completely natural. Maybe it was just Declan and those eyes of his, that giggle, that smile.

"Oh!" Her companion's face lit up like fireworks. "Congratulations! How long have you known?" The question was treading into grounds a bit more personal than Brennan would have liked, but she answered anyway.

"Around three weeks." Brennan replied, almost shyly.

"Are you so excited? How about the father? Is he?" Now the conversation had crossed the line, but Brennan found she didn't care. She'd been keeping this huge secret to herself for three weeks, but it seemed like longer than that, and it was time to get it out.

"He doesn't know yet," was Brennan's answer. The woman's face fell a bit.

"You are going to tell him, though, right?" She regarded this younger woman with confusion and a bit of pity. From the first time she saw her looking at Declan, she knew there was something going on in Brennan's life that had to do with children. And the way Declan reacted to her… Declan's mother's smile turned sympathetic as she watched Brennan's forehead crease, her troubled face striking a chord within the other woman's chest.

"Sweetie," she sounded dangerously like Angela, Brennan thought as she locked eyes with the mother, "even if this man doesn't mean that much, he deserves to know. A baby is the biggest blessing God can ever bestow upon two people, even if those two are little more than acquaintances. The gift of life is a binding tie and a huge responsibility that shouldn't rest on just your shoulders."

"Oh, no, he means the world to me." Brennan spoke quickly, surprised at how she spoke of him. Of Booth. "It's just that we weren't expecting anything like this to happen. I," she paused before continuing, carefully wording the next phrase, "I never really counted on having children." Brennan said, unconsciously twisting the ring on her finger.

"Kids are a life-changing decision," the mother began slowly, eyes sliding to Declan where he sat quietly, watching the exchange with those big expressive eyes, eyelashes long and soft. "And every single child is different. My husband and I are so fortunate to have been blessed with a child as sweet and good as Declan. And just like every child is different, so is every mother. Some are bad, some are good. I like to think that I'm the best mother for Declan, but that's just what I think. What I know for certain, though, is this." She turned to face Brennan head-on, and her light hazel eyes bore into Brennan's sharp blue ones. "Everyone deserves to feel a child's love. It's the most amazing thing you can experience because it's the purest of love there is. And I can tell you this, hon: you deserve to be loved." And with that, she turned her attention back to the now wriggling Declan, leaving Brennan to her own thoughts.

The plane finally landed and Brennan hurried off that plane as quickly as her still-stunned brain would let her. What that woman said… what that _stranger_ had said. Never before had Brennan felt so unbelievably vulnerable, yet at the same time so at peace. _Everyone deserves to feel a child's love_. She looked down at the sparkling ring on her finger and her pace quickened towards the baggage terminal where she knew he would be waiting for her. The walk seemed to be miles, but suddenly she was there, and she could see him. Her decision was made.

Brennan half-ran the last few steps and Booth swept her up in his arms, hugging her close and kissing her temple, then her lips.

"Welcome back." He smiled that crooked little smile of his and put her back on the floor, steadying her as she swayed slightly. Brennan felt so unlike herself right then as she watched his face, brown eyes searching hers, laced with concern.

"You okay, Bones?" he asked. Engaged for two months and together for longer and he still insisted on calling her that. Brennan doubted he would ever stop.

"I have something to tell you." She said quietly, looking up at him.

"What is it, what's wrong?" Booth's hands held her elbows, keeping her steady as he lowered his head the few inches to her level.

"You're going to be a father." She smiled as she saw his face light up.

"Bones, Temperance, you're serious?" He asked as if not believing his own ears. Joy leaked through every syllable. She simply nodded, feeling that if she spoke her words would shake and her voice break. His joy was infectious and she felt a lump in her throat develop. Stupid hormones… the biggest smile she'd seen in awhile broke across his face and he lifted her again, twirling around in the middle of the airport and not caring about what anyone thought as he laughed and kissed her again.

"A baby… a baby, Tempe!" He laughed again and held her tightly against her chest, Brennan's feet just barely brushing the floor as he supported all of her weight as if she was a feather.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," Brennan told him, "I've known for three weeks." Booth pulled back slightly and studied her face, brushing a lock of hair from her face. His light touch brought goose bumps to her arms.

"Don't worry about it." He pulled her back to him and hugged her. "I'm proud of you, Bones. I know that was hard to say to me, but you did it, and I didn't have to find out from Angela or someone else."

Brennan sighed in relief. She had been so worried he would be angry with her.

"I love you, Temperance…" he sighed into her hair, still holding her close. Brennan closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax a bit more into his arms. She felt so safe, so at home. Brennan snuggled further into Booth, her feelings conveying themselves through that action. She was still uncomfortable saying that out loud, but Booth didn't mind that much. It had been a long journey to get to her, and he finally had her and knew that she was his forever, and now she was carrying his child. She would feel a child's love, just like Booth had always hoped she would, and he would be right there with her, every step of the way.

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This little piece of fluff-mania was inspired by an adorable baby I met on the plane when I flew back from Los Angeles two days ago. I'm off to camp for a month, so I'm leaving you guys with this.

AS FOR **'LET ME COUNT THE WAYS,' **take that up with my writer-in-crime, Rockerbaby423/Lauren. If you're nice enough and pester her enough via messages, maybe she'll take pity and write that last chapter and post it on her site and when I get back we'll transfer it to the story on my account. So stick her on your author alert and see if she'll do it!! So sorry we haven't been able to put that together for you guys yet. I feel so bad about that… that's why I'm writing this before I leave for a month with no computer.

LOVE, COOKIES, AND FURBY-REPELLENT SPRAY TO ALL!!! But only if you review.

As always, Ash


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